Season Four
Mea Asta's fourth season originally began on May 7, 2018, beginning with the "Kasnia at War" storyline. The story begins 16 years after the finale of Season three, and builds off of both the "Titanic War" plotline and the "All These Years" plotline. Several characters from season three will be returning, such as Alphus and Kat Godridge, Icarus Quell, and the Rothenhaus family. However, since season four takes place 16 years after season three, many of these characters have aged significantly. The story revolves around Mea Asta, post Maximen Brinwald, and the continuing mystery surrounding his disappearance, and rumored return. There are currently 22 episodes slated for season four, and the season is expected to last about 5 months making the projected finale date October 8, 2018. Development After the finale of season three, it was unsure whether the series would continue on, and if it did, how many more seasons it would last for. It was eventually decided that with season three ending the way that it did, the series would take a break for an indefinite amount of time. The purpose of this was to regroup after the 13 months of continuous story telling. However, immediately after the end of season three, talks began of a season four, and possible season five, with season four telling the story of reconnecting the world, specifically with the Shandao islands, and season five wrapping the whole series up. This idea was never continued, as the creators saw that plotline to be "too shallow". Unsure of where to take the series, but still interested in telling it's stories, the creators decided that a season four would only happen if an amazing (not just good) story could be written for it. Several possible drafts were conceived for a potential season four, but none were followed up on. Through this time, many scrapped season four storylines were put together for possible spin-off use. In September of 2017, production began on Mea Asta: Online, which was intended to continue the Mea Asta storyline, without the constrictions of time limits, and linear story telling. Mea Asta: Online was eventually scrapped in late April, 2018, when it was finally announced that Mea Asta would be returning for a fourth season in May. With the intent of keeping season four's story on track, 22 episodes were slated for the season, to serve as guidelines for the story moving forward, to avoid more story inconsistencies (like the 1320 Moon Landing) in the future. It was announced on May 5, 2018, that the season would officially air only two days later. Story Throughout the mid-season break from May, 2017 to May, 2018, many story concepts were conceived, but ultimately scrapped during production of Mea Asta: Online and a possible season four. Beginning as early as late May, 2017, story concepts for season four were drafted. Ultimately these first concepts would be scrapped, but some later ideas were repurposed for Mea Asta: Online. As early as March of 2017, the idea for a Shandao centered season four were being tossed around. The idea behind this was to focus on the Central Alliance's effort to reconnect the world, while focusing on a previously little explored region. This idea was soon scrapped, as it was deemed too shallow and simple for the series' probable final season. After the finale of season three in May 2017, concepts for season four began to focus more on the immediate continuation of season three, rather than introduce an entirely new time and setting. One of these stories was the introduction of a mysterious individual, claiming to be the son of Maximen Brinwald, Abelton Waycor. Another saw the continuation of the Godridge legacy, by following Kat on her journeys around the world. This story would later be retconned into the final version of season four. These storylines got far enough into the production process that posters were made for both characters, Abelton Waycor, and Kat Godridge. This too was eventually scrapped, as neither of the two storylines seemed able to spur on an entire new season. With season four almost entirely written off at this point, the idea of finally bringing to light the previously conceived Mea Asta: Online seemed like a perfect solution to Mea Asta's story problem. Production for Mea Asta: Online continued on for nearly a year, replacing season four as the continuation of the series. However, the ambitiousness of the project turned out to be far too much for the production team, and was too eventually scrapped in mid January 2018. For several months, production on the future of the Mea Asta series seemed dead, and no new content was in production or being planned. It wasn't until early April when new story ideas for Mea Asta: Online started taking more solid form, eventually becoming so large, the production team decided that they were worthing of being converted into the first episode of season four. With only the first episode of the new season written, the story seemed strong enough to be able to carry on the entire season, and seemed open enough that it would be able to branch out into multiple new storylines. Episodes